His Ring
by NemesisFate
Summary: Severus’ students realize something about him… something horrifying.


Title: His Ring

Author: Nemesis

Disclaimer: _Definitely_ not mine. Go bug someone else.

Rating: G

Pairing: HP/SS

Feedback: Yes please! Severus' students realize something about him… something horrifying.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor. And detention, eight sharp." Severus Snape's voice rang out in the dungeon.

The student he addressed, a Thomas Sipes, groaned but knew better than to argue. Angry thoughts boiled in his head.

"Ms. Weasley," he began, addressing Bill's youngest, "_Why_ is your potion that color?"

The red-headed young witch looked in alarm at her dark brown potion. "Uh… I added the slug guts too fast?"

"You added the slug guts too fast," Severus mocked.

"Sir! Sir!" Draco's eldest called out suddenly. "Oh, sir! It's bubbling! Really angrily!"

Severus whipped around, sighing. "Malfoy, did you really add the pixie dust in tablespoons instead of teaspoons?"

Malfoy nodded. Severus rolled his eyes. "Twenty points from Ravenclaw. And detention tonight, at eight. You can serve it with Sipes."

The bell rang, ending all further torturous punishments Severus could have come up with.

They filed into the DADA classroom. Harry Potter stood impassively in front of the classroom.

"We're learning about boggarts today. You read the text some weeks earlier, but I wanted to get a boggart into the classroom. As you should know, they are notoriously difficult creatures to find. Now, as you should also know, a boggart turns into the thing you fear the most. It takes pleasure from scaring you."

"Like a Dementor?"

"Sort of. A dementor thrives on fear, lives on it. A boggart derives only pleasure. It's the difference between eating and eating a cookie after dinner. Eating is necessary; the cookie just tastes good."

The kids laughed at that.

"The way to defeat a boggart is to imagine your fear as something ridiculous. So, if your boggart turns into a bat, then you could imagine the bat in a party hat or with balloons. Then say 'Riddikulus!' Those of you not currently facing the boggart must stand back. Don't confuse it. Ms. Weasley, you start."

"Yes, sir."

She stepped forward, and Harry opened the closet he had cornered the boggart into.

The boggart lengthened menacingly and dropped onto the ground. The snake began advancing on the students. Harry recognized it as the Wizarding World's most poisonous snake, and sincerely hoped that Weasley would manage to turn the boggart into something ridiculous before anything happened.

"Riddikulus!" Weasley said confidently.

The snake was suddenly dressed in pink tutus. Lots of them.

"Next!" Harry called.

Malfoy came up. The boggart shifted. It grew translucent wings and developed yellow-and-black stripes. It turned into a five-foot-tall bee.

"Riddikulus!"

The bee was now completely bald.

"Next!"

Sipes came up. The boggart eagerly shifted again. It lengthened, but instead of dropping to the ground, it stood tall. The figure was cloaked in black, and for a moment, Harry feared a Boggart-Dementor. He looked up, though, and suppressed a smile. Another class had managed to turn a boggart into Professor Severus Snape, resident Potions Master and students' bogeyman.

"Riddikulus," Sipes stammered. Snape was suddenly sporting butterfly wings and a long evening gown.

Harry suppressed a laugh this time. Not every class managed to make him into something truly amusing.

Sipes blushed red. "Sorry, sir."

"Oh, forget about it. Every class has at least one student who makes the boggart into Professor Snape."

The class passed in this vein.

The bell rang.

Malfoy and Sipes entered the dungeons for their detention.

"Well, what are you doing there, wasting my time?" Severus snapped. "Get to work! I want the toadskin ready for pickling, that jar of scarab beetles finely crushed, and the newt's eyes juiced."

The detention passed with Severus making the occasional nasty comment.

"I can't believe how nasty he was," Malfoy complained to Sipes as they headed towards Ravenclaw Tower. "He's never pleasant. He never cares."

"I know. You saw my boggart."

"He's really nice," Malfoy said. "Potter. I mean, he's strict and all, but he's rather nice, too."

"Yeah."

_Next week:_

"Sipes, _why_ are you adding the moth antennae now? Did you perhaps fail to read the board? Tell me, boy, is there _any_ potion you can make without help?"

Sipes said nothing, his ears burning.

"Detention tonight. Eight sharp."

Malfoy patted Sipes on the shoulder inconspicuously. "Bad luck, mate."

"Unbelievable," Sipes hissed. "He's _mean._ He _must_ live alone."

Malfoy looked up at Severus, who was grading essays. "No, he doesn't. Look at that ring."

"What ring?"

"On his finger. Left ring finger. Gold and silver intwined? See it?"

"Yeah. It looks familiar."

"I know…" Malfoy was thoughtful as he diced slugs. He turned to Sipes suddenly. "I know where I've seen it before."

"Where?"

"On Potter's left ring finger."

The silver-gold ring glinted at them merrily as they stared, first at the ring, then each other in horror.


End file.
